Wednesday's Child
by hanakinstarbuck
Summary: Ryan's happily living his dream in New York, or is he? Kelly's stuck in Scranton with a secret that will change both of their lives. Begins a month or so after "The Job". Chapter 12 is now up!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The Office is not mine.

_Monday's child is fair of face._

_Tuesday's child is full of grace._

_Wednesday's child is full of woe._

_Thursday's child has far to go._

_Friday's child is loving and giving._

_Saturday's child works hard for a living,_

_But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day_

_Is bonny and blithe and good and gay._

* * *

"Look, Kelly, I told you. We're through. I'm moving to New York and you're staying here, and well, it's just not going to work." Ryan's blue, blue eyes were staring into hers, and she could tell from the tone of his voice that he meant it this time. It was over.

"Fine." She didn't cry. She was proud of that. After all, she could cry later, salty tears dripping into a bowl of chocolate ice cream and staining her purple sweatpants. But not now. Not in front of the man who was ripping her heart out. She just nodded, grabbed her coat from the rack next to Pam's desk and took the rest of the day off.

She didn't sleep that night, or any other night that week.

Ryan was gone the next day. His desk sat empty and staring at her every time she turned around. She closed her eyes and tried to pretend he was still behind her, warm and comforting and adorable.

The days ticked by wearily until it had been over a month since Ryan had ditched her for his shiny new CEO position. One Thursday, Pam and Kelly sat together eating lunch in the break room

"So, me, Jim, Kevin and Toby are going to Poor Richard's after work," Pam stirred her yogurt and smiled at Kelly. "You should come."

Kelly managed a smile, "Sure, sounds great." But her eyes fell to her untouched sandwich.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm totally over the whole Ryan thing, if that's what you mean. He was an ass anyway." Kelly smiled reassuringly at Pam but it didn't reach her eyes, and Pam felt a pang of sympathy.

Suddenly, Kelly's face paled. "Could you excuse me for a second?" Pam hadn't even finished nodding before Kelly had rushed into the women's bathroom.

She appeared again a few minutes later, face haggard and one hand on her stomach. Pam gave her a worried look, but Kelly just shrugged it off. "I think I have the flu," she said. "It's totally gross."

"You don't sound sick," Pam mentioned. "How long has this been happening?"

"I don't know, a couple weeks? I don't really feel sick, it's just my stomach. But that's the flu, right? Stomach flu or whatever?"

"I guess," Pam said. "Have you had a fever or a headache?"

"Not really. Just the stomach thing. I can barely eat anything, but that's totally great because maybe I'll lose a couple pounds! That would be awesome. Plus I haven't had PMS which is a blessing, you don't know how horrible that can be, well I guess you do, after all you're a girl." Kelly giggled a little, but Pam just made a face. Sometimes Kelly was a little too TMI.

"How long has it been since you…you know" Pam blushed a little even mentioning it, but Kelly was more than willing to oblige her.

"I don't know, actually. A while. I think since before Ryan left." Her face crinkled at the mention of his name. "I can't believe him anyway. He---"

Pam cut her off. "Kelly, I think you should take a test. Just in case."

"A test? Like a math test or whatever? Because I am totally bad at math. That's why I'm not in sales."

"No," Pam said. "I mean a _test._ A pregnancy test."

Kelly gasped. "Do you think I might be pregnant? Like, with a baby?"

Pam tried not to roll her eyes. "It's a possibility."

Kelly squealed.

* * *

She bought the test on the way home after work. Pam told her to buy two, just in case, and said that she shouldn't come to Poor Richard's after all. Kelly was glad that Pam was such an awesome friend. Even if she'd been totally right about Jim being just not that into her. There were other guys in the world. 

She followed the instructions on both tests and set the timer on the microwave for ten minutes. She was so excited she could barely read the newest issue of People, even though the dress that JLo was going to wear to the Oscars was a-MAY-zing. She stared at Jennifer's baby bump poking through her teal dress and thought _"That could be me. Maybe I'll have twins! Oh my God, that would be so totally awesome."_

The timer startled Kelly even though she was expecting it, and she stumbled into the bathroom, a little scared to look at the results. Finally, she got up the nerve to peek. She glanced from one test to the other and her mouth dropped.

Two lines on both.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the Office. However, I do own the Office on DVD.

* * *

"Ohmygodohmygod Pam! You have to come over right this instant! I have amazing news!" Kelly squealed into the phone.

Pam felt her heart sink. "I'll be right there," She touched Jim lightly on the arm and smiled at him. "Gotta go," she waved to everyone else at their table."Bye guys!"

Kelly answered the door before Pam was done knocking and dragged her through her apartment by the hand. "Oh my God, Pam, so I got two tests, just like you said? And I took both of them and I waited the ten minutes just like the instructions said, which was sooooo long but at least I had JLo to keep me occupied and then I went and looked, and guess what? There were two lines!!" She clapped her hands and pointed at the tests, which were still sitting on her bathroom counter. Both clearly indicated that she'd tested positive "Pam, I'm pregnant! Isn't that great?"

"Sure," Pam said. She smiled half-heartedly for Kelly's sake. "So are you going to tell Ryan?"

Kelly was quiet for a second. She collapsed on her purple sofa and motioned for Pam to sit as she pulled out her cell phone. "Oh, yeah. I should tell him right now! What do you think? He is going to be sooooo excited. And maybe we'll get back together! That would be awesome. We could totally get marri—"

"Kelly, I don't thinking telling him over the phone is such a good idea. Maybe you should do it in person. This is kind of big news, after all." Pam neglected to mention the fact that she was pretty sure that Ryan wasn't going to take this very well at all. She'd seen the frightened look he'd gotten every time Kelly started reciting baby names.

"You're right! I should tell him to meet me for dinner. How romantic is that? Maybe at Alfredo's, that was the place we always used to go. And afterward he'll admit he was a jackass and say that he's sorry and—"

"Yeah, okay. Well, um, just don't mention it over the phone? This is really big, Kelly. Like," Pam paused for a second. How could she make Kelly understand this? "Like Britney shaving her head big."

"Oh my God, Pam that was so long ago, nobody cares." Kelly thought for a second. "But you're right. I guess it is pretty important."

Pam tried not to roll her eyes. "Yeah, Kel, kids generally are."

"Actually," Kelly bit the edge of one nail. "Do you think you could call Ryan? He doesn't really answer my calls anymore. I think he must not recognize the number or something. He doesn't pick up unknown calls cuz he's paranoid ike that."

"Um, okay." Pam pulled out her cell phone. "What's his number?"

She dialed the number as Kelly recited it to her and was surprised when Ryan picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"

Pam ducked into the bathroom. The glare of Kelly's hot pink walls made her eyes hurt, so she stared at the white tile floors. Which were also dazzlingly bright. "Hey Ryan, it's Pam."

"Pam? I didn't know you had my number. How's it going? Is something wrong?"

"Not….necessarily." Pam winced as she glanced at the two tests, still proudly displayed on the bathroom sink. "Um, actually, Kelly asked me to call you."

Ryan sighed. "She's not crying again, is she?"

"No. She's pretty happy right now." _Well, at least that wasn't a lie, _Pam thought. "Actually, Ryan, I think it would be a good idea for you to come to Scranton and see Kelly. Maybe take her to dinner. It's kind of important." Pam bit her lip and swayed from side to side.

"I'm not dating her again. I—I wasn't even dating her in the first place! Pam, I'd really rather not see her. She just…she's—"

"Yeah, I know. Look, Ryan," Pam said, uncharacteristically firm. "It's a _really_ good idea for you to come down. A really, really good idea. I don't think I can stress that enough."

"Um, okay?" Ryan sounded absolutely lost over the phone. "Fine. Well…tell her I'll be there on Sunday at seven. I'll meet her at Alfredo's. And it's absolutely not a date. Of any kind. Please don't forget that part?"

"I won't," Pam said. "Take care, Ryan."

"Yeah, okay." He answered. "You too, I guess."

Pam pocketed her phone as she sunk down next to Kelly, who was still waiting impatiently on the sofa.

"What'd he say? What'd he say?" Pam flinched as Kelly slapped her arm repeatedly in excitement.

"He's coming on Sunday at seven. He's going to meet you at Alfredo's, and he said that it's not a date. I didn't mention anything else."

Kelly squeaked happily. "I can't believe I have a date with Ryan on Sunday! And we're going to have babies! This is like, the best day ever!"

Pam sighed. "Yeah, I bet it is. And it's not a date, Kelly."


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: This chapter is a little different than the last two, as we get to see Ryan's POV for a while. Also, I maye not be updating as quickly, since I'm not so sure what's going to happen after this. Well, I do, just not in detail. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. :)

Also, thank you to those who have reviewed: MsOffice, MrsBigTuna, chasegirl26, xxshesapirate and Faile Aybara. You guys are great. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own The Office. Used to work in an office though. ...I don't know if that counts. ;)

* * *

It was Sunday afternoon, and Ryan was straightening his tie for the third time in his bathroom mirror. He picked up his comb before setting it back down on the counter. Why was he nervous? It was only Kelly, he reminded himself. Still, Pam's voice had echoed through his head all weekend_. "I think it would be a good idea for you to come to Scranton and see Kelly."_ She'd said. _"It's really important_." The tone in her voice still made him jumpy. What could be so damn important?

_Calm down, Ryan_, he thought. Kelly'd probably invented some stupid drama and Pam just happened to believe her this time. Why the hell had he put a tie on anyway? He yanked it back off and threw in on the sink. He took a deep breath before running the comb through his stylish new haircut absently. It was already half past three—time to get on the road.

He grabbed the tie on his way out the door.

* * *

Kelly sat in her bathtub filled with lavender salts, thumbing through an issue of Baby Magazine, but the words all blurred together and her hands were shaking. Ryan was coming. To see _her. _She'd always knew he'd come back. No man could resist the charm of Kelly Kapoor. She smiled at the thought. Of course Ryan would beg her to forgive his stupidity after he found out she was the mother of his kid. She hummed the wedding march as she drained the tub and toweled off. This wasn't really the way she was expecting her happy ending to begin, but it was better than nothing.

She'd gone through four outfits and called Pam twice before she'd settled on a pink cashmere sweater and purple skirt, black heels and a turquoise clutch. She wasn't even upset when she burned herself with the curling iron. Nothing was going to ruin this date. _Nothing._

* * *

Ryan arrived at Alfredo's thirty minutes early. He'd gotten a table before he realized it was only six thirty, and had to wave the waiter off twice. He took a swig of the beer he was sure would be the first of many. At about ten till, fingers drumming on the table nervously, he pulled out his Blackberry and dialed the only person he was sure could calm his nerves: his brother.

"Hey," Zack said as he picked up. "What's up, baby brother?"

"Please don't call me that," Ryan answered automatically. "Look, bro….do you remember that girl I was dating?"

"The crazy Indian chick? Of course dude. I thought you'd ditched her."

"Yeah, I thought so too." Ryan sighed. "Look, I'm meeting her for dinner right now, and I just….I'm really not sure what's going on. A friend of hers said that I needed to come down here, and I just….What do you think it might be? You don't think it's anything….you know…serious, do you?"

"Wow," Zack laughed "Maybe she broke a nail and really needs you to take her to the beautician. I don't know man, with her it could be anything."

"Yeah… I hope to God it's not anything big. If she's pregnant or something, I'll kill myself, I swear. Kelly drives me up a wall, you know? She's just so—" He glanced at the clock. It was 7:02, and still no sign of Kelly. She'd always made it a point to not be late. "God. I gotta go, Zack. I'm sure she'll be here any minute."

"Okay, well call me with the aftermath, bro."

"Will do." Ryan hung up, feeling just a little worse than when he'd dialed. He'd been a little harsh about Kelly to Zack. She wasn't that bad, he guessed. She was just a little…intense. _God, what am I thinking?_ He finished his beer and waved for the waiter.

* * *

Kelly pulled into the parking lot of Alfredo's at exactly 6:54. She knew that because she'd checked the time every twenty seconds for the last hour or so. She couldn't help it—she was so totally excited. The girl at the front desk smiled at her as she walked in, and she felt a shiver when she saw Ryan's back, slouched over a table near the back. He was facing away from her, guzzling his beer as he talked loudly into his phone. Typical Ryan. She rolled her eyes and sighed good-naturedly as she tiptoed up behind him. She wanted it to be a surprise.

About five feet from the table, she stopped. Ryan was talking about _her. _Her smile slowly faded as she heard his next words. "Yeah… I hope to God it's not anything big. If she's pregnant or something, I'll kill myself. I swear. Kelly drives me up a wall, you know?"

Kill himself? Did he really mean that? Was having a baby with her _that _much of a disaster? She wanted to walk up to him right then and ask him exactly what he meant by what he'd just said. But instead she just backed away quietly, biting back tears as she swung open the glass double doors and stepped back into the hot June breeze. She _so_ did not drive him up the wall. She was probably the best girlfriend he'd ever had.

She fumbled with her keys. Tears were falling fast now, and she couldn't see a damn thing. Finally, she got the lock undone and climbed into her car. Taking a deep breath, she wiped her eyes and fixed her mascara in her rearview mirror before peeling out of the parking lot.

Screw Ryan Bailey Howard. She could totally deal with this kid thing on her own.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Office. I do own a desk though. And a chair. Which is kind of like an office. Except...it's just me. So...not really.

* * *

Kelly hesitated a little before knocking on Pam's door. She really hated to bother Pam again—they were friends, but not really that close. To be honest, Kelly didn't really have anyone else. Outside of work, her only close friends were her DVD player and her credit card. 

She could hear voices on the other side of the door. Pam already had company. Kelly was suddenly sorry she'd come. She turned to leave just as Pam's door snapped open.

"Kelly?" Pam sounded breathless. "Aren't you supposed to be out with—" She stopped when she saw the tears in Kelly's eyes threatening to fall. "Hey, is everything okay?"

Kelly bit her lip and shook her head. "I…can I come in? I'm sorry that I'm totally intruding or whatever, but I just really need someone to talk to."

"Yeah, sure," Pam waved Kelly in and followed her to the living room. Kelly stopped suddenly when she saw Pam's guest, Jim, sitting on the sofa looking sheepish.

"Oh, hey Jim, I didn't know you were here. I can totally go…"Kelly turned around but Pam stopped her.

"Don't worry about it. We were just playing some Scrabble." Pam motioned toward the Scrabble board. "But we're pretty much finished. Besides, you look like you could use some company."

Kelly's eyes welled up as she and Pam both sat down next to Jim. "Yeah…"

She told them what she'd heard Ryan say when she'd walked into Alfredo's. After she finished, Jim shared a glance with Pam, and said, "So you didn't tell him?"

"No. I haven't told anyone, other than Pam and she told you, I guess."

"Kelly," Pam started. "People say stuff they don't mean all the time. I'm sure Ryan wouldn't actually kill himself. He was probably exaggerating."

"It's not that," Kelly sighed. "It's just…I'm not blind, Pam. I saw the look Ryan gave me when we broke up. I know that telling him that I'm pregnant would totally mess up this thing he has going in New York and I really know now that he doesn't want me back. I think I've always known that, I just didn't really want to face it. Hearing him talking to whoever it was—probably some girl anyway—it just….made me think about it. You know?"

"That is…surprisingly mature of you to say," Jim said, raising his eyebrows.

"Thanks, Jim." Kelly smiled weakly. "So, well, what do you guys think I should do now?"

Pam patted Kelly's hand. "Well, first of all, I think you should keep this quiet around the office. I mean, we all know Michael—" Kelly nodded at this "and you probably don't want to deal with Angela if she finds out you're having an 'illegitimate' child. Do you think you can deal with this on your own?"

"Yeah. Totally. I'll be fine. I've always wanted babies anyway. It'll be awesome." She said, but her heart wasn't really in it.

"Ryan's an asshole, Kelly." Jim added. "You don't want him around anyway."

"Yeah….I know. I think I've known for a while." Kelly sighed a little, and then smiled. "Hey, do you guys want to watch a movie?" Jim cringed at Pam from behind Kelly, but Pam gave him a Look.

"Sure, but I don't really have any movies you'll like, I think, Kelly. I mean, I have Legally Blonde but—"

"Oh, no way. I was thinking…how about Better Off Dead? Do you guys like that one?"

"That's one of my favorite movies!" Pam jumped off the couch and pulled the DVD from one of the shelves and popped it into the player.

Jim's eyebrows rose. "I didn't know you'd ever even heard of Better Off Dead."

"Duh." Kelly smiled. "John Cusack was totally _hot._ Well, before he got all old and stuff."

"Maybe you don't have such bad taste after all." Pam said as she plunked back on the sofa between Kelly and Jim.

"Thanks." Kelly knew she'd meant it as a compliment.

* * *

Ryan drummed his fingers on the table. It was after 8 o'clock. Where was Kelly? He'd been looking around once every thirty seconds or so for a glimpse of her shiny black hair, a twirl of a pink skirt. Listened for the sound of her high, sweet giggle, but there was nothing. She had never been late for a date before—this wasn't a date, he reminded himself—and he was starting to think that maybe, just maybe…she'd stood him up. 

He downed the dregs of his third beer and slammed the bottle on the table a little harder than he meant to. A couple sitting two tables away glared at him. The limit at a "family restaurant" was usually two, but the waiter must've seen something in his eyes because he'd brought him the third.

Now he was feeling a little fuzzy, a little jumpy. Not tipsy. Ryan Howard can hold his liquor much better than that, he thought. Three was nothing. Even so, nervous bubbles fizzed in his stomach as he signed the check and walked out to his Sebring. The company had given him the same car they'd given Michael. It was hilarious, really. A girl's car.

His tie was stifling him. He loosened it and threw the damn thing on the hood of his car. Pulled out his Blackberry. Call her, he thought. I'll call her. Find out what was so damn important. Why she didn't show up.

* * *

Pam was snuggling with Jim while trying really hard not to look like it, moving a little closer to him whenever she thought Kelly wasn't looking. Kelly was snuggling with one of Pam's throw pillows and trying not to watch the couple on the couch next to her. Her stomach was queasy, and she was considering whether it was worth it to run to the bathroom. Maybe if she ignored it, it would go away.

On screen, it was the weird part with the singing hamburger and she wasn't really paying attention. She'd never really gotten this little musical number, and she was sort of dozing off when she felt her phone vibrate. "Clumsy" by Fergie echoed through Pam's tiny living room. They were both looking at her now, and she was staring at her cell phone.

"It's Ryan," she mumbled. It was strange to see his number on the little screen.

"Don't answer." Jim said firmly, "You don't want to talk to him."

"Yeah," her finger hesitated over the 'Ignore' button. Just a little. But she pressed it and shut her phone. Jim was right anyway. She really _didn't_ want to talk to him.

* * *

"Hey, this is Kelly Kapoor! I'm totally not here right now, so leave me a super awesome message and I'll call you back as soon as I possibly can! Thank you so much for being awesome and calling me, I'll be thinking about you all day!" 

_Please record your message after the tone. When you've finished recording, you may hang up or press one for more options. To leave a callback number, press five._

**BEEP.**

"Hey Kel, it's uh, it's Ryan. I—how are you? I'm okay, yeah. Pretty good. Um, so Pam said you wanted to talk to me and well…call me back, I guess. Bye."

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think so far. :) 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own The Office but...I'm out of cute things to put here. Kind of sad.

* * *

Ryan woke up the next morning in the emptiness of his apartment. He didn't remember driving home last night, didn't remember much of anything after leaving Alfredo's. He thought maybe he'd dropped by Kelly's before leaving town. Maybe he'd knocked on her door and no one had answered. Maybe that was just a dream. 

He grabbed his Blackberry from the nightstand, blearily checked his messages, but there weren't any. Disappointed, he tossed it back on the table and tried to scrub the fog from his head. _Get a hold of yourself_, he thought. She'll call back. She always does.

Not that he wanted her to, of course.

* * *

A week went by. Then two. Then three. Soon it had been over a month since she'd left Ryan alone at Alfredo's. He hadn't called her again, and she hadn't called him back. It didn't hurt as much now. That was nice. 

She still had his message saved on her phone, though. Sometimes when she was feeling especially sick or tired or when Michael made jokes about her food choices—bananas on a ham sandwich was NOT weird, thankyouverymuch—she would pull out her phone and listen to his message again. His words were slurred and she wondered just how many beers he'd had before calling. But he sounded worried, concerned, and that made her heart beat just a little faster.

She hadn't told her parents. She was thinking that maybe, just maybe she never would, maybe she'd just keep the baby a secret forever, or at least until she'd gotten married (not to Ryan, obviously, but to _someone_) and then she'd tell them they'd adopted or possibly that he'd had a kid in his previous marriage. Or maybe she'd just never visit again, but the idea of never seeing her kid sisters again made her stomach hurt and her eyes well up, and before she knew it, she was sobbing into her latest issue of Parenting magazine which she'd hidden inside a Cosmo and Angela was glaring at her around Oscar's desk.

She tried to get a hold of herself but the tears kept flowing and she dashed from her desk in the annex to the women's bathroom as quietly as possible.

* * *

The guys from work had invited Ryan out to the club but he hadn't felt like going. Too much work to do, he'd told them. He stayed at the office for another thirty minutes or so before he ran out of papers to sign and reports to look over. Then he spent another hour on the internet, checking his balance even though he'd already written it in his checkbook. Glanced through his email though he'd looked just an hour before. 

He played 12 games of Solitaire and skimmed the Wall Street Journal until the numbers ran together and his head began to hurt. He thought of his empty black sofa, the Plasma TV with 800 channels and nothing to watch, and his king-size bed that had seemed like a good idea when he'd bought it, but now left him feeling as if he were drowning in a sea of sheets.

He dialed her number. Was surprised to find he'd memorized it.

* * *

Kelly was halfway through A Knight's Tale when her cell rang. She set down her bowl of popcorn-smothered-in-chocolate-syrup and dug it out from between the cushions. Flipped it open without glancing at the caller ID. 

"Yeah?" _Why does everyone have to interrupt my Heath time_? She thought. .

"Hey," Ryan was a little taken aback by her tone of voice. "Uh, is this a bad time?"

Kelly froze. Damn it, Damn it, _Damn it_. "Not really, I guess. What's up?"

"Not a lot, really. Well, kind of a lot. My job's going pretty well. I have a great apartment now. Not like that piece of crap I had in Scranton. It's really beautiful, you'd probably like it. Not that big, but hey, it's New York. And they gave me a Sebring. It's silver, like Michael's. Well, it's newer than Michael's, still pretty cool though, I guess. I like it, just—"

"Ryan," Kelly cut in. "Do you have a reason for calling?"

The line was silent for so long that Kelly thought maybe he'd hung up. She was just about to click off herself when she heard him speak again. His voice was a little rougher this time. "What is it, Kelly? I'd like to know."

"It's nothing. Really." She looked down at her stomach. It was still mostly flat (as flat as it'd ever been, anyway), but she knew it wouldn't be for long. How she was going to keep her secret in a few months? She'd worry about that later. "I was just being stupid. Made-up drama. Sorry I didn't come to Alfredo's. I…" What should she say? "I, uh, got sick. I meant to call."

"I left you a voicemail." He sounded a little hurt, and Kelly bit her lip. She recalled having almost this exact conversation from the other side.

"You did? It must not have gone through. My voicemail's a little spotty, sometimes."

"It never was before." He pointed out.

"Like you'd know. I've been with Alltel for two years now, and my voicemail's always been really crappy like that. Sometimes it works okay and sometimes it acts like it hates me."

"Yeah." Ryan mumbled. "Alltel's like that."

"It really is." Kelly said. "Alltel's a bitch. It's really not worth my time. I don't know why I haven't switched yet."

"Yeah."

"I gotta go, Ryan. I'm glad that your job's working out great. I totally knew you would go far. I always told you that."

"I know." His voice seemed so throaty and flat. Kelly didn't think he'd ever sounded like that before. Oh well. He was probably bored talking to her anyway.

"Goodbye, Ryan."

"Bye, Kelly."

She hung up the phone and dug back into her popcorn. But sitting in the chocolate sauce for so long had made it squishy and gross and she ended up just throwing it away.

* * *

A/N: I think I like this chapter best so far. But tell me what you think! 


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you guys so much for your reviews! It's really great to hear your opinions and if you have any constructive criticism that might make the story better, please let me know.

On to the story!

* * *

The August sun filtered through Kelly's curtains as she dressed for work. Or attempted to get dressed. 

"Dammit!" Try as she might, she absolutely could not get her pants to button. Frustrated, she yanked them off. She had tried on six more pairs before she'd found a purple, stretchy, sequined skirt in the back.

She didn't even remember buying it. The skirt was hideous, disgusting, and a complete fashion faux pas. And it was the only thing that fit.

She pulled on a loose-fitting, fluttery pink top that skimmed her swelling stomach and a pair of black ballet flats. The skirt didn't look so bad now, and you couldn't really see the bump through the fabric of her shirt. It would have to do.

There was only one way to solve this clothing dilemma, of course: Shopping.

Kelly was super-excited until she realized that the only free time she had wouldn't be until this weekend. Dammit twice.

* * *

"Hey guys," Kelly sat down next to Jim and Pam in the break room, tipping a salad, a jar of raspberry jam, a bag of Doritos and a bottle of Dasani onto the table. 

"Hey, Kel." Pam eyed her lunch. "What's with the jam?"

"You know, I never realized this before, but Doritos and raspberry jam are totally awesome together."

Jim cringed as she popped open the jar and dipped each Dorito in."That is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen."

"Whatever." Kelly laughed at the look on his face. "So, Pam, I'm going to have to leave around 1:30 for a doctor's appointment. Could you tell Michael for me?"

"Sure." Pam lowered her voice, even though no one else was around. "So how is it going so far?"

"Horrible. My back hurts all the time, I've fallen asleep at my desk twice in the last month and woken up to Angela eyeing me. And I've locked my keys in my car three times this week. And I'm starting to show, which is why I'm wearing this totally hideous purple skirt." Kelly spooned some of the jam onto her salad.

"I stand corrected. _That_ is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. Ever." Jim excused himself from the table to get a drink of water. Pam shot him an amused look as he left.

"Are you ever going to tell him, Kelly? I mean, it's been over three months. Just…do you think he has a right to know?"

"Ryan's an asshole." Jim said from the sink. "I thought we'd established that."

"It's still his kid too," Pam countered. "I mean, I would want to know."

"But you probably wouldn't ditch your girlfriend the second you found a way out and then talk trash about her behind her back." Jim took a big gulp of water before dumping the rest in the sink and returning to his seat. Pam was silent for a moment.

"I just don't want to deal with his reaction," Kelly stirred her jam-covered salad. "I mean, he would totally freak out and probably would've told me to get an abortion anyway, and that's not what I want to do. Too late for that anyway." She rubbed her stomach absently. "I want to have her."

"Her? Did you already find out? I thought it was too early still." Pam said.

"I don't need a test," Kelly said. "I just know."

* * *

David Wallace looked over the report that Ryan had given him. He, along with the other members of corporate, had conducted a meeting that morning in regards to Ryan's plans to go online. 

"Well, I know that this is still in the beginning stages and all, but I really like what you have so far, Ryan." David smiled at him over the report.

"Thank you, David. Like I said in our meeting earlier, I think that going online is really going to be the saving grace for this company. If we want to compete with the chains, we're going to have to bring out the 'big guns', so to speak."

"I agree," David stood and shook Ryan's hand with a smile. "Well, Ryan, it looks like I made the right choice. You just might be the one to save our company."

"Thank you," Ryan said as he grabbed his jacket and strode back to his office. Everything he'd wanted had come true. He was living in the Big Apple, the city of his dreams, working at a high-paying job doing something that mattered. And the CFO actually thought his ideas were worthwhile. It was still preliminary, David had said, but they would most likely be implementing Dunder-Mifflin Infinity within the next month.

He sat back in his office chair, feet up on his desk. Happy as he was, David's last words wouldn't stop echoing through his head. _"It looks like I made the right choice."_

Ryan was sure that he'd made the right choice as well. He had everything he'd worked so hard for, everything he'd ever wanted. Still, he felt like something was missing. Something…he wasn't sure what.

* * *

"Hello, Kelly," Dr. Thias motioned for her to have a seat on the table. "So how have you two been doing since our last visit? Have you been taking those pre-natal vitamins I gave you?" 

"Yeah," Kelly said, wrinkling her nose. "They smell like old cheese. Totally gross."

"I know, they are 'gross'." She laughed. "But they will provide the necessary nutrients that your body and your baby need." Dr. Thias looked at Kelly's chart. "So, it looks like you're about three and a half months along now, aren't you? How are you feeling?"

Kelly mentioned all the things she'd told Pam earlier. "Oh, and I have these really weird cravings all the time. Like, I put ketchup on an apple the other day. I don't really know why. It just sounded really good."

"All these things are normal symptoms at this point in your pregnancy," Dr. Thias assured her. "In fact they're on that list I gave you."

"Even the apples with ketchup thing? Because that sounds totally weird, even to me, and I'm the one who did it."

"Yes, even the apples with ketchup thing." Dr. Thias said. "Now let's start your physical exam. We're also going to do an ultrasound and you'll be able to listen to your baby's heartbeat, if you'd like."

"That sounds great," Kelly said.

* * *

Seven hours and four beers later, Ryan was feeling good. Really good. He and Hunter had gone to a club after work, and now he was bobbing his head to the as Hunter yelled to him over the music. 

"Your presentation was awesome," he shouted, taking another swig of his beer. Ryan nodded and tried to shout "thanks" but he wasn't sure that Hunter could hear him. Hunter was only an assistant (he couldn't remember to whom) but he was one of the few guys in the office besides Wallace that actually seemed to like him. He'd even asked him to join his band, but Ryan felt like 26 was a little old for that. Plus he'd failed band in 6th grade—not exactly a great track record.

"Hey, I'm gonna go grab something to eat," he yelled in Hunter's ear. "Shots when I get back?"

Hunter nodded and Ryan pushed through the crowd. He just made it through when someone bumped into him from behind, sloshing his martini all over his black dress shirt. He turned around to tell the guy off and realized he'd just been bumped into by Vince Vaughn .Vince glanced at him and his soaking shirt for just a second, and Ryan thought maybe he'd said sorry.

He was so thrilled. _Vince Vaughn_ had bumped into him! He had to call…well he had to call somebody. But he couldn't think of anyone who would want to hear about his celebrity encounter. Not anyone who wanted to talk to him, at least. Food forgotten, he hurried back over to Hunter and shouted to him what had just happened.

Hunter gave him a shrug. "Cool." he said. Or at least that's what Ryan thought he said. He really couldn't hear over the damn music.

* * *

Dr. Thias made a few more adjustments on the machine next to Kelly and then rubbed some sort of cold gel all over her stomach. It was slimy and gross and Kelly really had to pee. She was getting a little impatient, and then Dr. Thias pointed the probe-thing at Kelly's slightly swollen stomach, and a black and white image flickered onto the screen. 

"There we go," Dr. Thias smiled. "You can have a look."

Kelly stared at the flicker in the middle of the screen. _She's so big already. _She had to squint to make it out, but she thought she saw little fingers and toes. Her tiny, perfect baby floated on the screen, and she touched the image softly.

"Hello, sweetheart," she whispered.


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for the reviews, guys! You all are awesome. Also, this chapter was inspired by Annie, who asked if there was going to be a baby-shopping chapter. Well, here it is!

**September:**

"Oh my God Pam, are you as excited as I am?" Kelly linked her arm through Pam's as she hauled her through the entrance of the Steamtown Mall.

"Oh, so totally." Pam said sarcastically. But she had to admit, she was a little excited. After all, she hadn't gone baby shopping since her sister had had her last little one. And that was about five years ago.

The first place Kelly dragged Pam to was Gymboree, a children's clothing store filled with "super lovable completely awesome" baby clothes. Pam and Kelly both marveled at the tiny dresses that Kelly pulled off of each rack.

"These are so adorable," Pam said as she examined a frilly pink dress with matching pink socks and headband with pink roses. "But you should probably stick with neutral colors like green and yellow until you're absolutely sure."

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah." Then she spotted a cute little onesie plastered with tiny teddy bear faces. "Ohmygod Pam!" She held it up and squealed.

"Look at this one!" Pam picked up a similar onesie covered in rubber duckies.

"That is awesome." Kelly shoved both of them into her shopping basket.

They spent another hour cooing over the miniature dresses and little outfits. Halfway through, Kelly filled up one hand basket and Pam had to grab another. By the time they'd finished, Pam had talked Kelly out of a tiny pair of pink fuzzy boots and a baby hat with bunny ears on it and both baskets were overflowing. Kelly dumped them on the counter in front of the clerk, whose ever-present smile wavered just a little.

"Congratulations," she said to Kelly as she scanned each item.

"Thanks." Kelly said. "I'm so totally excited, even though I feel so icky most of the time and I'm starting to get totally fat. But babies are awesome! Have you seen the new pictures of Brangelina's kids? I totally want that many babies but I don't know if I'm going to adopt or not because adopting is way too expensive but I'm pretty sure that's the only way I'm going to be able to have an Asian kid like Maddox or Pax unless I find some hot Asian dude but I totally don't know any so I don't think that'll happen. But I totally love Chinese food, so I think I would be a great mom to an Asian kid, don't you think?"

"Uh-huh," The clerk gave Pam a helpless look, but she just smiled knowingly.

Kelly didn't stop talking until the clerk handed her the shopping bags and stated, "Have a nice day." Then she bounced out clutching three giant bags and announced to Pam that they should totally get something to eat because she was like, starving.

After Kelly had plopped down and devoured her chicken sandwich and a side salad (covered in some orange marmalade she'd kept in her purse), and Pam had finished her Caesar salad with extra croutons, they started digging through the bags to see what exactly they'd gotten.

Pam had managed to convince Kelly to stick with mostly yellow, green and white (although Kelly had thrown in some lavender onesies, a few strawberry-covered bibs and an adorable lavender dress, complete with matching silk head band and tiny lavender socks. As she'd told Pam, "If this baby is going to have my complexion, which she so will, she will look totally hot in lavender.")

As it was, Kelly's baby now had enough clothes to last at least a year. (Pam had also convinced her that buying everything in newborn sizes was a bad idea, since babies grow so quickly. So Kelly had bought a lot of the clothes in 3-6 and 9-12 months as well.)

They had also bought an abundance of bibs, blankets, rattles, socks, a teddy bear, a rubber duck set, and some baby Converse All-Stars. (Thankfully in black, not pink.)

Pam was laughing at Kelly, who was holding up the duckie onesie, an actual rubber duckie and singing the accompanying song, when a familiar petite blonde strode by, stopped, turned and stared at the two of them. Pam's eyes widened as Angela stalked up to the table.

Kelly cut Angela off before she could to speak, "Look, before you say anything, Angela," She said, the rubber duckie in her hand squeaking with every word, "Yes, I know, I'm totally _whorish_ or whatever. But you better keep your tight-ass little mouth shut about this at work, because Ryan doesn't know, and I would really like to keep it that way. And you and I both know that if Michael finds out, Ryan will be the first one he calls. And I totally do _not_ want to deal with that."

"I'm glad that you're admitting that you are living in sin," Angela stated coldly. "That is the first step toward forgiveness."

"Please don't say anything, Angela." Then Pam leveled her eyes with the blonde. "Some secrets are better kept quiet, aren't they?"

Angela stared hard at Pam for a moment. "Fine." She gave Kelly another disgusted look. "I will keep this quiet. For now." Then she huffed off in the direction of the American Doll store.

"See ya Monday!" Kelly called after her. "What a bitch," she whispered to Pam.

"This isn't good," Pam said quietly, thinking of Dwight and his dog-like obedience to Michael.

"So what was that whole secrets thing about?" Kelly asked. "I totally didn't get it."

"Nothing," Pam crumpled up her napkin and tossed in onto her tray. "You wanna go by Boscov's?"

"Absolutely," Kelly brightened up. "Can we hit Victoria Secret's too? Because I totally need a new bra, this one hurts like a bitch. On the plus side, I think my boobs might have grown, isn't that great? Oh, and I've already got this crib I found at the furniture store downtown? It's white and totally amazing. And I've got an awesome theme in mind for her room. What do you think of this?" Kelly paused dramatically. "Finding Nemo meets Making the Band. Imagine it: Danity Kane _underwater. _Do you think they have stick-on wall things at the Disney Store?"

Pam just laughed.


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for the reviews, guys! I'd definitely love to hear where you'd like for this to go, what you think of it so far, things like that. If you're reading, I'd love to hear from you! I have the chapter after this done, but where it goes from there is really a toss up. So, let me know your opinions, comments, ideas, all that stuff. And thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Office.

* * *

Pam headed for the annex during a slow period at work on Monday. Kelly sat writing, scribbling out and rewriting on a sheet Hammermill CopyPlus, her tongue sticking out through her teeth and the sleeves of her baggy pink hoodie rolled up because it was horribly hot, especially for late September. Pam knocked softly on the divider, but she didn't look up.

"So Angela glared at me when she showed up this morning, but Michael hasn't mentioned anything, so I think we might be safe." Pam said after a moment. "Though he did invite Jim and me to dinner with him and Jan again." She made a face. Their relationship had been made public just a week before, and Michael had been more than enthusiastic to suggest a "double date" for the four of them. Several times.

"That's cool." Kelly was still concentrating on her little list, sighing in frustration every time she crossed off another item.

"What're you doing?" Pam asked, glancing over Kelly's shoulder. "Lindsay Ashton Nicole Kapoor? Hilary Love _Aguilera_ Kapoor? Are you serious?"

"I crossed the first one out," Kelly said pointedly. "And I don't think the other one is that bad."

Pam laughed. She scanned the rest of the list. "Scarlett Willow Kapoor? That one's not so bad."

Kelly thought for a moment, and then put a star next to Scarlett Willow. "Thanks," she said. Pam smiled and headed back to reception.

Angela had just stepped out of the ladies room as Dwight entered the break room, a plate of green Jell-o with something dark inside cradled in his hands. She stopped at the fridge and pulled out a bottle of Arrowhead water as Dwight dug a spoon from the drawer and began scooping the Jell-o away from the set of nun chucks trapped inside.

"Hello Monkey," he said softly to the cupboards.

"Hello, Dwight." She replied. She shut the refrigerator door a little harder than necessary, and Dwight had to stop himself from turning to face her.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, concerned.

"It's that Kelly Kapoor. I can't believe that—" She stopped herself as she thought of what Pam had said. Would she really expose the two of them if she said anything?

"What is it? You can tell me."

"I can't." Angela said. "Pam made me promise not to. Even though I can't see why it's so important to _her_ whether or not Kelly's love life is lay open for all to see. Kelly does it herself anyway. And despite the fact that he is completely useless, she should tell Ryan, if only to save the soul of--." She stopped, afraid she'd already said too much.

"We shouldn't have secrets between us, Monkey." Dwight said softly. Angela was silent for a long time.

"Fine," Angela turned to face his back. Dwight could be trusted, she figured. "You can't tell anyone, Dwight. Not even Michael. But that whore is…._with child._" She whispered the last part so quietly that Dwight could barely make out the words. "And the worst part is she hasn't even told the father. She is going to have this child _in sin, _and its eternal soul is already in jeopardy. It's just terrible."

"Don't worry about it, Monkey," Dwight hid a smile. "I won't tell Michael." Angela dropped the half-finished bottle of water into the trash can and opened the break room door.

"Thank you," she said to the potted plant next to the doorjamb.

"You're welcome," Dwight said, but Angela was already gone.

Jim tapped his pencil on his desk, partly to annoy Dwight and partly because he knew Dwight couldn't run to Michael about it since he'd left to go run some errands for Jan. After a few minutes of tapping, Dwight sneered at Jim. "Stop that."

"Stop what?" Jim said, pencil still drumming away.

"_That_." Jim ignored him until Dwight tipped his pencil cup over with the end of his pen.

"Well that was uncalled for," Jim scooped up the pens and pencils that had rolled all over his desk and dropped them back into the cup.

Kelly walked up to reception just then, a small pile of papers scribbled with purple glitter pen in her hands. She handed the papers to Pam, who seemed to be marking them up.

Dwight scoffed as Kelly talked animatedly to the receptionist. "I can't believe her."

Jim looked up from his computer screen. "Can't believe who?"

"Psh. Like I'd tell you." Jim stared at Dwight until he became frustrated and finally said, "_Fine._ Let's just say that Kelly's more of a slut than she lets on. If that's possible."

"And what leads you to believe that?" Jim pressed, face serious.

"A friend of mine, who shall remain nameless, happened to mention the gift that the Temp left behind when he rightfully abandoned her."

"What kind of gift?" Phyllis turned to face Dwight's direction.

Dwight smirked. "The kind that takes nine months to open."

Jim stood suddenly. "That's it. Everyone in the conference room. Now." He announced to the entire office. They all looked at him, only slightly surprised, and began to file in.

Pam and Kelly started for the conference room, but Jim stopped them. He looked down at Kelly's stomach. "Dwight knows." He said quietly. Kelly's smile fell, and Pam frowned.

"_Angela_." She said, and she and Kelly both rushed into the meeting, Jim following close behind.

Kelly stood in front of Angela with anger in her eyes. "Why you—" But Jim cut her off before she could start shouting and motioned for Kelly and Pam to sit down. Kelly fumed, hands in her sweater pockets, and glared at Angela, who was looking rather confused.

"Okay guys, I think we need to have a little discussion." Jim started.

"Is it true that you're pregnant?" Phyllis asked Kelly excitedly. Immediately the room was in an uproar.

Angela's eyes widened and she stared at Dwight questioningly, but he was watching Jim with a sneer.

"You're pregnant?" Oscar said in disbelief.

Kevin just smirked. "Niiiiice."

Toby looked at her, though not in surprise. "It all makes so much sense now," he mumbled to himself.

"This is so exciting," Phyllis added. Kelly gave a small smile.

"It is _not_ exciting," Dwight said. "It's a disaster."

Angela, surprisingly, said nothing. She was still staring at Dwight, shock and anger lining her face.

Andy stood up and gave Kelly an enthusiastic high-five. "Awesome!" he shouted.

Stanley didn't look up from his crossword puzzle.

Meredith shook her head. "You're gonna regret_ that_ in about a year." She said.

Creed looked around in confusion. "Somebody's what?"

"Have you told Ryan?" Phyllis asked. Kelly shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.

"Wow, drama-llama." Andy added. "_That _is going to be a fun conversation."

"Okay," Jim said, running his fingers through his hair. This was not how the meeting was supposed to be going, and Michael would be back any minute.

Pam stepped forward. "Look guys," she said in a loud tone, and everyone quieted. "Kelly will tell Ryan when the time is right. For now, though, we all _absolutely_ have to keep this quiet."

"Under no circumstances will anyone tell Michael any of this," Jim added, looking sharply at the camera men as well. "That includes you guys. You all got that?" Everyone nodded. "Absolutely _do not_ tell Michael."

"Don't tell me what?" Michael said as he popped through the door. Jim and Pam stared at him, taken aback.

"Don't tell Michael that, uh, that we're throwing you a surprise party!" Pam said quickly, and Jim and Kelly nodded enthusiastically. "Now you've ruined it, Michael." She said disapprovingly.

"Why are you throwing me a party?" Michael asked. "It's not my birthday."

"It's totally in honor of you and Jan," Kelly said. "Because you two are like, a match made in heaven and we just thought that you completely deserved to have a party thrown for you, after all that you two have done for us and I just know that it will be the best party ever and—"

"Okay, just—just stop." Michael said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Kelly shrugged and winked at the camera behind him. Michael looked up at Jim and Pam and hugged both of them. "I can't believe you guys think so much of me," he said. "My sweet children." They both patted Michael awkwardly on the back and then wiggled out of his embrace.

"So when's the party?" Michael asked, looking around for Angela.

"It's this afternoon!" Pam said quickly. Angela stood up to argue with Pam, but Pam glared her down. "The Party Planning Committee is going to have this party set up by four, aren't they, Angela?"

Angela bristled, and then nodded stiffly. Pam turned back to Michael. "So you better go call Jan, because she's invited too."

Michael hurried back to his office, and Pam, Jim and Kelly breathed a sigh of relief. Jim looked sternly at his co-workers one last time and said. "Not one word." They all nodded before filing out, leaving Pam, Jim and Kelly behind.

"Nice save, Beesly," Jim smiled at Pam and gave her a high-five. "You too, Kelly."

"Thanks," Kelly smiled, and then her face grew serious. "This so totally sucks. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to keep this from Ryan _or_ Michael."

"We'll worry about that later," Pam said.


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

**Author's Note:** So I guess FF.N deleted my chapter. Wierd. I don't know. Well, anyway, here it is again. The next chapter will be up...soonish...Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! You guys have been really great. :D

* * *

"As you all know, Ryan is coming down from Corporate today to visit our humble branch," Michael smiled brightly. "My prodigal son is coming home."

Jim gave Pam a look, and she tried not to giggle. Dwight had been glancing sidelong at Angela every few minutes or so, but she pointedly ignored him. Kelly sat in the back, filing her nails and trying not to look nervous. Not that she was nervous. She _so_ wasn't nervous. She was the opposite of nervous, whatever that was. Un-nervous? That wasn't it. Well, whatever.

Michael dismissed them and Kelly hurried back to her seat. She pulled out her compact to check her lip gloss for the third time. Not that she was even going to _look_ in his direction. But if she happened to, he would totally notice that she looked super awesome today. Because she definitely did.

* * *

Ryan checked his reflection in his rearview mirror one last time. Every hair was perfectly in place, and he tried to comb his beard over the slightly patchy spots. He straightened his tie one last time and locked the Sebring, double-checking to make sure he had the notes for his presentation. He closed his eyes on the elevator ride up and repeated to himself that he was Vice President now. Michael was his subordinate. The thought made him smile a little.

The elevator and his Blackberry dinged at the same time, and he strode into the office, poking away at the tiny keys. Pam noticed him first, of course.

"Hey Ryan," she said, but he held up a finger. He was sure that this couldn't wait. He scanned through the messages twice. Just some stupid forwards that he deleted without reading. Damn.

"Hey Pam," He finally looked up. "Is Michael around?"

"In his office," Pam said flatly, not bothering to meet his eyes. _I wonder what's up with her,_ he thought as he knocked on Michael's door.

* * *

The meeting was totally boring, and Kelly stopped paying attention halfway through. She'd sat in the back, as usual, hands in the kangaroo pocket of her glittery black and hot pink hoodie. She was totally tired of wearing hoodies, but they were the only thing that really covered anything anymore. And even they were getting a little tighter every day.

She'd managed to avoid meeting his eyes throughout the meeting so far, and she was totally proud of that. She knew exactly when his eyes were about to settle on her, and she tried to appear like her nails were oh-so-totally fascinating then. But she was still drawn to back to him; she couldn't help it. Even if he looked like he was on the way to a funeral in all that black, she kept watching his blue eyes flit across the room to each person, looking for their reactions. His eyes were always so pretty. She had wrinkled her nose a little when she'd saw his beard ('totally gross' was her initial reaction, and she'd definitely noticed the patchy spots.) But as she watched him, she started to think it suited this new Ryan. He was still cold, indifferent, and a total ass, but he was a Corporate ass now, and he intended on making sure everyone knew it. I mean, sending Michael for water? Come on.

She'd sunk into line with everyone else as they left, hiding behind Kevin as she passed him. She was almost positive he hadn't even looked for her as she went by.

* * *

The presentation had gone as well as possible, Ryan thought, considering the people involved. He was sitting in between Oscar and Angela's desks, telling Kevin, Oscar and Andy about how amazing New York was. He recounted a little loudly how he'd run into Vince Vaughn to the both of them, and they laughed in all the right places. He glanced over to the annex to see if Kelly had heard, but she'd just turned another page in some magazine.

Michael, of course, had come over to see what all the fuss was about. He'd dragged Ryan back to his office to 'talk' to him about Dunder Mifflin Infinity, and Ryan peeked back at Kelly, but she hadn't moved.

"Hey," Pam said as she sat down at Ryan's old desk behind Kelly. Kelly smiled and closed her Baby Couture. "You doing okay?"

"Oh totally," Kelly said enthusiastically. "He looks totally dumb in black, doesn't he? Like he's in mourning or something."

"Kelly…"

"I'm fine, Pam. I promise." She shoved the magazine onto Pam's lap. "Look at this! Isn't this pink leather diaper bag totally hot?"

Phyllis knocked softly on the divider just then. "Hey, Kelly. I was wondering what colors you were wanting for those baby booties?"

Kelly looked up. "Oh pink and purple definitely. Those would be totally awesome."

"So you're having a girl?" Phyllis asked, excited.

"Yup," Kelly smiled.

"She doesn't know yet," Pam said, and Kelly rolled her eyes.

"It's totally a girl. And thanks so much, Phyllis."

"It's the least I can do," Phyllis said softly. "After all, babies can be really expensive."

* * *

Ryan had finally wriggled his way out of Michael's inane argument that it was "just business as usual, right?" Definitely not, Ryan had replied, and left the room. He walked into the men's bathroom and scrubbed his face with his hands, staring at his reflection above the sink.

She hadn't even looked at him. Just stared at her nails and seemed bored the entire time, and Ryan was thinking, maybe she really had moved on. Maybe she didn't have trouble falling asleep at night. Maybe it was just him that dreamed of soft skin between the sheets, of kisses covering his face and squeals so high that only dogs could hear them. Maybe she didn't feel the silence seeping through the dark and into her ears, so loud that she couldn't stand it.

"Dammit Ryan," he told his reflection. What the hell was wrong with him? When did he start having trouble breathing when she smiled? When did he start imagining her inane conversations just to keep away the silence for a little while? When had he started _caring_?

"I'll talk to her." He said to himself. "Everything is fine."

* * *

Pam and Phyllis were chatting with her when he'd started toward the annex. He could see her smiling through the break in the partition, hands in the pocket of her sweater that looked two sizes too big. She hates hoodies, he thought absently. She looked perfectly happy talking to the two of them, hadn't even noticed he was standing ten feet away. He thought briefly of ordering the other two back to work, because he could do that now, if he wanted. Then he realized he didn't want her to think he was a dick, bossing people around at his whim. Not that she didn't think so already.

He watched as she smiled and handed Phyllis a magazine, pointing out something inside. She did that thing with her hands, talking animatedly and flinging them in every direction. She was sitting on the edge of her desk, legs swinging beneath her skirt. He stared at her thin, brown legs, perfectly manicured toenails.

Phyllis said something to her, and she laughed. She jumped off the desk and started to tug off her sweater. Her shirt lifted up a little, exposing her stomach, and his heart seized. He couldn't move. She twirled around in her purple skirt, laughing, but all he could see was her round belly, much too big for her frame. All he could think was _this isn't happening_ over and over. He had to get out of here.

She saw him then, saw him gazing at her stomach, saw the look of alarm on his face. He started walking toward the exit but she grabbed his arm in front of reception. Made him face her. He stared at his shoes and wondered if he was going to throw up.

"Look at me Ryan," she said. "God dammit. _Look at me._" He studied her warm brown eyes. They were soft and warm just like the rest of her.

"Why didn't you tell me, Kelly?" His voice sounded so far away. "Why?"

She was silent.

"How could this happen?" His mind was buzzing. "How in the hell could this happen? Did you forget again, Kelly? I thought—I thought…" God dammit. He was pulling his hair and trying to think.

"I knew it," She said. She looked at him, disgusted. "Do you want to know why I didn't tell you, Ryan Howard?" Her voice was louder. Everyone was looking but he couldn't bring himself to care. "Do you want to know _why I didn't fucking tell you?_" She poked him hard in the chest and it hurt. "Because I knew you would blame it on me. I _knew_ it. You always do. You know what? You think I didn't show up at Alfredo's that night? I was there. And I heard what you said to whoever that was on the phone. I know what you think. About me. About our baby." There were tears in her eyes. "You never wanted anything to do with me and I know it now. I think I always did. So fuck you. _Fuck you._" The tears were streaming down her face and she turned to Pam and Jim, standing a few steps away. She sobbed into Pam's shoulder, and Jim was patting her back.

They were all staring at him, every damn person in that office was staring at him. Even Michael was leaning out the door of the office, a look of shock on his face. "Wow," he said. "Talk about Days of Our Lives."

"Shut the hell up, Michael." Ryan managed. He stared at Kelly's back, trying to think of what to say. He wanted to reach out and touch her, wanted to be the one to hold her, wanted to get out of this office and outside where he could actually _breathe._

"That's not true, Kelly." He whispered.

"Maybe you should leave," Jim said, staring him down. It wasn't a question.

Ryan stood there for a long time before he broke Jim's gaze. He grabbed his coat and didn't bother to wait for the elevator. He tromped down the stairs and got into the Sebring. But he didn't start it.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** So I had a little trouble deciding where the story was going to go after that (pretty dramatic) last chapter. I think I've got some of it figured out...no I don't. But I'm working on it. Anyway, thank you all for your support, and I'm so glad you all like it!

* * *

He had the seat all the way back, top down on the Sebring. It was 4:30 and he was supposed to have left already, be drumming his fingers on the steering wheel to the newest album by Ben Folds or maybe some Death Cab and thinking about trying that Italian place next to his apartment.

Instead he was sitting in the parking lot of Dunder-Mifflin Scranton, watching the clouds float by and realizing he hadn't done that since he was probably six years old. He glanced toward the entrance of the building every few minutes, looking for a glimpse of shiny black hair and a swish of a purple skirt.

And then suddenly, there she was, flanked on either side by Jim and Pam. He wondered when they'd become her friends as he slammed the door of the Sebring shut without bothering to raise the top. She hadn't seen him yet, didn't recognize the car and he was glad for the element of surprise.

"Kelly," he said softly, and her eyes found his, surprised, he thought, to find he was still here. He was surprised himself.

"What, Ryan?" she said, but her voice was soft. Jim started to speak but Ryan cut him off.

"No, I have something to say," he said, and Jim glanced at Pam, but remained silent.

"Kelly, I—" he started, but he wasn't sure where to begin. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He waited for her to reply, but she said nothing. He took a deep breath. "I'm not sure what to do—I wish you'd told me sooner. I really do. I would have listened." She gave him a skeptical look. "Maybe I wouldn't have," he amended lamely. "But I'm listening now. Will you go to dinner with me?"

She glanced at Jim and Pam, unsure, but they both nodded softly. "Okay," she said, and he led her back to his car. She marveled at the Sebring, then laughed softly. "You have the same car as Michael?"

"Yeah," he smiled a little. "I told you that, you know. Before."

"I know." He opened the door for her, something he'd never done, and her eyebrows raised at him when she stepped inside.

"We can ride with the top down, if you want," he said, and she nodded.

* * *

Kelly decided on Chinese, and they sat in an uncomfortable silence over chow mien and sweet and sour pork. Kelly sipped her Sprite, leaving little gloss marks on the straw and finally asked the question that was on both of their minds.

"So, what are we going to do?" She asked, deftly stabbing a piece of pork with her chopsticks.

"I really don't know," Ryan said. "I mean, this was the last thing I thought I—we would have to deal with right now, honestly."

"Well, you know, I totally didn't plan for this either," Kelly said a little sharply. "But I've been dealing with it for five months. Look, I know that you don't want kids right now. I know that you really don't want me right now. I'm totally more than ready to totally raise this baby on my own and I will if I have to."

"Kelly—" He held her eyes for a long moment. "You know...You know I can't leave my job. I'm finally doing something with my life. It's not--"

"You don't think I know that? I totally know that, Ryan." She watched the sauce soak into the sweet and sour pork. It was the wrong thing to say and he knew it now. Regretted it. He was surprised that she hadn't started sobbing dramatically, black tears running down her face and he realized. She had changed.

Hesitatingly, he slid his fingers over the table, clasping her dark hand awkwardly. "Hey."

Her eyes flicked up and he smiled slightly. It was a strange feeling. His chest tightened when she didn't smile back.

"I'm not moving to New York." She said. "Scranton is my home, and I have friends here. New York is awesome, but it's not where I belong. Even if there are a million totally cute boutiques on every corner."

Ryan opened his mouth to remind her that he hadn't invited her up but thought better of it. "You don't have to."

"I'm done." She pushed her plate, still half-full, toward the center of the table.

He raised a hand for the waiter. "You're right. Let's get out of here."

* * *

They stood at the door to her apartment, Kelly fumbling awkwardly with the Styrofoam take out boxes as she searched for her keys. Ryan rocked back and forth on his heels, trying to think of something to say, but no words came.

She finally shoved the key into the lock, twisting it sharply and he reached for her arm. "Kelly, wait—"

She turned to him expectantly, and he stood silently, mouth open. "I…can I come in?"

"Goodnight, Ryan," She said stiffly, slipping from his grasp and turning back to the door.

"Are you still mad at me?" He said so softly that she could barely hear him, and she turned back once more.

"I think I have a reason to be." She said. "I don't think you understand, Ryan. Look, I've spent the last five months trying to figure out what I'm going to do when this kid finally pops out. I don't know how I'm going to do the work thing and the mom thing at the same time, but I'll figure it out. And my parents don't know yet, and they're going to totally flip when they do find out, but that's just another problem I'll have to deal with.

"You have your cushy job up in New York, living the high life, and I'm sure you'd love to just skip out on me. I would if I were you. And I'm completely prepared to never see you again, Ryan." She searched his eyes and then sighed quietly.

"Thank you for dinner," she said as she turned to go inside.

Ryan grabbed her arm.

"I'm done talki—" Her words were muffled as his lips met hers. He kissed her softly at first, and then more deeply, one hand in her hair. She didn't move, but when they finally parted, her eyes were half-lidded like they always used to be when they were in bed together. He realized he was still gripping her elbow and let go awkwardly.

She straightened her shirt a little, took one more look at him, and pushed the door of her apartment open.

"It'll work out, Kelly." He called after her.

She pushed the door closed with a click, leaving him standing on her doorstep.

* * *

Is it out of character? I hope not. Let me know what you think!


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: This is a pretty girly chapter. You have been warned.

Also, **bolded** means crossed out. But you can't cross things out on FF.N apparently, so bold will have to do.

Thanks for reading and reviewing, guys!

* * *

"And then he just grabs my arm and kisses me," Kelly was leaning over reception, distracting Pam from an intense game of FreeCell. "But I totally shut the door in his face. I felt like Julia Roberts in _Pretty Woman_. Except I'm not a hooker." She put her hand on Pam's arm and said earnestly, "I'm not a hooker, Pam."

"I know," Pam wondered what version of _Pretty Woman_ Kelly had been watching.

"I just don't know what I should do. I mean, what does that even mean?"

"Um," Pam said. "To be honest, I don't really know. It's just, with Ryan, I mean, you followed him around like a lovesick puppy for over a year, and he barely acknowledged that you exist."

"And now he's being totally Un-Ryan and I don't even know how to react to that. How do you react to that? I don't know."

"Well," Pam closed out of FreeCell. "I think that if Ryan really wants you back, he'll show you he's changed. Kissing you was a good start, but, I mean, has he ever told you he loved you or anything even close to that?"

"He bought me a daisy on Valentine's Day" Kelly said, "which was totally our anniversary too. And it's totally okay that I hate daisies. Really. And he got me that really cute pink umbrella for my birthday, even though I really wanted this necklace from Jared's, and he bought me new shoes when his dog completely ruined my pink patent leather pumps. Even if the shoes he got were from Payless. And they weren't pink. Or pumps."

"It's not about what he bought you," Pam said, "Even if those things were really…nice. It's about how he treated you. Did he ever make you feel like he really cared about you?"

"We made out in the supply closet once," Kelly was quiet for a long time. "That doesn't really count, does it?"

"Nope." Pam sighed. "I think you should just keep your distance until he's finally honest with you. And if it doesn't happen, you know the rest of us will always be here." She glanced down at Kelly's stomach. "For both of you."

"Thanks," Kelly forced a smile.

.

* * *

_._

_D__ear Kelly_,

Ryan stared at his screen. Should he say 'Dear'?

_Kelly,_

Ugh. Now it sounded like a business letter.

_Dear Kelly, _

**I would like to see you again sometime this week.**

Now that was just lame.

_Dear Kelly,_

_I know I was never the best boyfriend. _

Well, that wasn't a lie.

_I didn't realize how much of an impact you had on my life until I moved to New York. It's…different up here. A lot different than Scranton. I really thought my life would change for the better once I left Scranton, but I was wrong. _

Completely wrong.

_Look, I was really surprised the other night when I found out that you were _**carrying my baby** _pregnant. _

'Surprised' wasn't the word. Shocked? Terrified? Mildly pleased? No.

_I would like to make it up to you. I'm going to be in Scranton next week. I think that we need to get together and talk. _

They'd talked before. And it didn't work. What he really needed was to show her that he was serious. That he cared about her. _'I think I might be a little bit in love with you'_ just didn't seem right.

"Are you seriously going to _email_ that to her?" Ryan jumped at the sound of Hunter's voice behind him.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" He shouted, then winced at the sound of his own voice. "Sorry. But what's wrong with an email?"

"It's just so…impersonal." Hunter replied. "You should write it out."

"I _am_ writing it out."

"No," Hunter shook his head. "On paper. Chicks dig that sort of thing."

"Oh." Ryan pulled a sheet of paper from his printer and picked up a pen.

"You should use something nicer than printer paper." Hunter disappeared down the hall to his desk. He was back in just a few minutes, holding some sort of flowery…thing.

"Here," Hunter handed the purple, lilac-covered paper to Ryan, who gave him a questioning look.

"I keep it around in case I piss off Natalie." He said with a shrug.

Ryan set one sheet of paper in front of him and started to copy down his failed email, adding more here and there as he went along.

"You should send her something nice, too," Hunter said. "Like flowers or a teddy bear or something. Natalie loves jewelry."

Ryan thought maybe all three wouldn't be a bad idea.

.

* * *

.

Kelly unlocked her door with a sigh. She was exhausted, had had to stay late at work because Michael had had another stupid conference, this time about the dangers of Post-It Notes (he'd given himself two paper cuts in the same day and was now positive that it was necessary to wear gloves when working with paper. Which was kind of difficult, considering they were a _paper_ company).

Right now all she really wanted was to watch the latest episode of Rock of Love II that she'd Tivo'd, eat some chocolate ice cream with strawberries and finally get some sleep. Her back ached and she really wanted to down some Tylenol but she wasn't allowed to take it for the baby's sake, and dammit if her pants didn't feel tighter now than they had this morning.

She absently flicked on the lights as she walked in and was suddenly blinded by a sea of pink and red in her living room. There were at least a dozen vases of pink and red roses (her favorites) sitting on every available surface. Four on the coffee table, three on the TV stand, one on each side table, and three on the wooden floor. There were numbers on each card, labeled one through twelve, and a scattering of petals trailing from the doorway to her bedroom.

Puzzled, she plucked the card from vase #1 and ripped it open.

_Lying in your arms  
So close together  
Didn't know just what I had _

She totally knew this song. It was a song, she was sure of that. Something she hadn't heard in a long, long time.

_  
Now I toss and turn  
Cause I'm without you  
How I'm missing you so bad _

A grin broke out on her face as she reached for card #3.

_Where was my head  
Where was my heart  
Now I cry alone in the dark _

_Drive Myself Crazy_ by NSYNC was totally the greatest song of the 90s. And the 90s were completely awesome.

_I lie awake  
I drive myself crazy  
Drive myself crazy  
Thinking of you_

Kelly hummed the chorus as she yanked card #5 from its envelope, accidentally tearing it a little.

_Made a mistake  
When I let you go baby  
I drive myself crazy  
Wanting you the way that I do  
_  
No boy had ever sent her something like this. She was holding out, secretly hoping that this was all from Ryan, even though she was pretty sure Ryan would never do something like this. He'd probably never even heard of NSYNC.

_I was such a fool  
I couldn't see it  
Just how good you were to me _

At least he was admitting he was wrong. Or Justin Timberlake was admitting it. Something like that.

_You confessed your love  
Undying devotion  
I confessed my need to be free _

She lingered a little on this card, flipping it over in her hands before reaching for #8.

_And now I'm left  
With all this pain  
I've only got myself to blame _

She felt her eyes start to blur as she grabbed card #9, knocking a rosebud off the stem in the process.

_Why didn't I know it  
How much I loved you baby  
Why couldn't I show it_

She was pretty sure the last time she'd teared up because of NSYNC was at least 8 years ago. Maybe more.

_If I had only told you  
When I had the chance  
Oh I had the chance_

There were still two cards left. Kelly was pretty sure that that was the end of the song (minus the chorus, of course) and hesitated as she pulled card #11 from that little plastic pitchfork thingy that always seemed to come with flowers.

_Kelly,_

_This doesn't make up for anything, I know_

_Please forgive me_

Card #12 was the hardest to read, her hands were shaking so badly.

_Go to your bedroom_

_There's a surprise for you_

_Ryan_

Kelly stumbled through the rose petals to the door of her room, and stood, one hand on the doorknob. She almost couldn't bring herself to open it, and her heart was pounding in her ears. Finally, she cracked the door open and peeked inside.

Her bed was covered in rose petals as well, and on top of them sat a huge purple teddy bear, holding one of those pillows with a pocket in it. The pillow said 'Sweetheart' in gold thread and there was an envelope in the pocket.

Instead of ripping it open, she slowly peeled the gummy flap back, pulling out the letter inside.

_Dear Kelly, _

_I know I was never the best boyfriend. I'm really sorry. I guess I didn't realize how much of an impact you had on my life until I moved to New York. It's…different up here. A lot different than Scranton. I really thought my life would change for the better once I left Scranton, but I was wrong. _

_Look, I was really surprised the other night when I found out that you were pregnant. I would like to make it up to you. I think that we need to get together and talk. I know that didn't seem to work last time, but I'd like to give it another shot. I feel like we should try to work something out, at least for the baby. I have been doing a lot of thinking and there are a lot of things I need to say to you. I really care about you Kelly, even if I was never very good at showing it. Let me make it up to you, please._

_Always, _

_Ryan_

Tears were streaming from her eyes as she sat on the corner of her bed, glancing from the bear to the rose petals to the letter and back again. This had to be the singularly most romantic thing that had ever happened in the history of EVER. Even _The Notebook_ couldn't top this.

There was a soft knock on her bedroom door. Startled, she jumped up and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Come in," She called out cautiously.

Ryan pushed the door open slowly, what could have been a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Hey."

Kelly did what any girl in her position would have done: she squealed at a level only dogs could hear and ran into Ryan's arms, covering his face with kisses.

"How did you get in?" she asked him after a moment.

Ryan reached into his pocket. "I still have the key you gave me last year."

"But how did you?" She waved an arm at her petal-covered bed and the teddy bear upon it.

"Hunter helped me out a little. But I figured some of it out on my own." Ryan neglected to mention that he'd Wiki'd six different romantic comedies and had had to check her MySpace to figure out what to put on the cards. And that maybe, just maybe he'd listened to NSYNC in the 90s too.

"So what do you think?" He asked her, smiling a little.

"It's fabulous. Awesome. Amazing. There aren't enough words to describe it!" She was bouncing in his arms.

"Well, I have one more thing to give you." He pulled a long black box from his coat pocket.

Kelly snatched it out of his hands and opened it, gasping at what lay inside. "It's the necklace I wanted! I thought you just didn't know…"

"I did." He said softly, removing the silver chain from the box and fastening it around her neck with clumsy fingers. It took him a couple minutes, but he got it. "There."

Kelly looked at it in the mirror on top of her vanity. The amethyst butterfly hung just at the base of her throat, glittering in the vanity lights. "It's wonderful, Ryan."

"Yeah…" He watched her twirl the necklace in her fingers, swaying and smiling at him. It gave him a warm feeling inside, washing over the slightly emasculated feeling he'd had setting this whole thing up. She bounced back into his arms again and met his lips with hers.

It was completely worth it.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note:

Is this a filler chapter? Judge for yourself! (I personally think it so totally is.) But, more action is coming soon! It's not all smooth sailing for Ryan and Kelly, sad as that may seem.

Also, I've been SUPER busy (college likes to spring things on you) so I will definitely be updating, just not as frequently. Don't fear, dear readers! I promise this tale will be told.

Enjoy guys, and thank you so much for reading.

.

* * *

.

As Ryan rolled over, tangled in the sheets and still half-stuck in a foggy dream that he had mostly forgotten, his arm bumped into something soft. He cracked open one eye. Something brown and soft.

Kelly snuggled closer to him, wrapping his arm around her and her breathing grew quiet. He'd just begun to think that maybe she'd gone back to sleep when her voice, throaty with dreams, rose up and settled on the sheets between them.

"Hey."

"Hey." He replied, tightening his grip around her, pulling her a little closer. He could feel her relax into his arms; see her smile even though she was facing away from him. He was smiling a little himself.

She was still for a long time, even though he could tell she was awake. "Do you want to feel something?"

"Hmm?" He wondered what kind of 'something' she had planned and hoped it was the same sort of 'something' he was thinking of. She laughed when he kissed the sensitive hollow of her neck, where it met her shoulder.

"Not that." She turned to face him. "Give me your hand."

Still aroused by the possibility, he held out one hand and she placed it on the smooth roundness of her growing stomach. He felt a tiny thumping, a slight twitch and his eyes met hers, full of questions.

"She's kicking," she smiled, and he felt a sweet twisting in his chest, somewhere near his heart.

.

.

He stumbled out of the shower, dripping on the white tile as he wrapped a towel around his waist, steam still rising from his shoulders. Stepping into her living room, half-naked and still a little damp, he caught her, still in her pajamas, feet up on the end of the couch, in the middle of a conversation.

"Yes, I know, mama. I totally haven't forgotten you and daddy. It's just…" she sighed. "Work has been so totally hectic lately and I haven't even had time to go to the mall." She paused, not yet noticing him in the doorway. "Alright. Yes I will. I'll call you later okay? Maybe next weekend. I'll see what I can do. Totally, mama. Alright, I love you too. Bye."

Ryan hesitated, falling a little into his old self before he caught it and stepped into the room. "Hey, what's up?"

She tilted her head backward, smiling at the sight of him in only a towel. "Oh, nothing. Just my crazy-ass parents. I haven't gone to see them since like, May, and they're wondering what's up."

"So you haven't told them?" She moved her legs for him to sit down next to her.

"Considering they'd've totally killed me? Nope."

"Hmm…" Ryan was silent for a long time. "You have to tell them, don't you."

"Let's see….hmm….uh yeah, Ryan. I do." She caught the look on his face, the deer-in-headlights expression she knew so well, just before he did. Glancing down at her, he tried his best to smile and failed.

"Don't worry about it." She tried her best to come off as blasé. "I mean, it's just my parents. I've totally gotten away with worse things than this."

"Really?" He gave her a dubious look.

"Well, maybe not."

He ran his fingers through his hair and at once she knew he was nervous. It was as if those five months had melted away and at once she'd remembered every little mannerism, each slight tick he'd had. The ones she used to study when she was still searching for any sign that he cared.

"Hey, it's okay," she said, touching his arm softly. "It'll be totally fine."

"Yeah." He said, but she knew he didn't believe her. She didn't really believe herself.

.

* * *

-

He left late in the evening, had work in the morning just like she did. He stood in the doorway with her in his arms for what felt like an eternity, and as she moved to kiss his cheek he turned his head to meet her lips, feeling her smile against his mouth. Sighing a little when he pulled away, she hugged him one last time, briefly, and closed the door as he bounded down the steps.

He'd called into work as soon as he'd gotten up, feigning the nasty 24 hour thing that had been going around the office already and nobody'd asked twice. It wasn't like he'd ever called in, anyway. Not since he'd gotten the Corporate job.

He hummed along to "Crooked Teeth" as he pulled up to his apartment building, drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel as he searched for a parking spot. As he unlocked his apartment door, dropping his keys on the table nearby, he grabbed a beer from the fridge, flipped on the TV and sunk into his black leather couch.

He hadn't smiled this much in years.

.

.

As her phone rang in her ear, Kelly wondered how many times she'd called Pam in the last five months. Maybe just the last _week. _It had to be a pretty high number. Like, 35 or maybe 200 or something. Okay, probably more than that.

"Hey," she said, squeaking just a little into the phone. "You will _not_ believe what happened last night!"

Pam couldn't help but feel a little of Kelly's happiness herself as it bled through the phone. She repeated everything to Jim, who was sitting next to her on the couch, listening intently to Kelly's story as the credits for Scrubs scrolled across Pam's TV.

"Why haven't you ever done something like that for me?" Pam asked when Kelly recounted the surprise Ryan had set up for her. Jim shrugged.

"Who'd've thought _Ryan_ would outdo me in the romance department." He said.

"So what do you guys think?" Kelly said after she'd finished.

"I think it's adorable," Pam said. "He really has changed."

"He has." Jim admitted, albeit reluctantly.

"The only problem is," Kelly said, "My mom called me this morning to tell me that she and Daddy have been wondering if I've fallen off the face of the earth or something. If I don't go see them soon, they'll totally flip."

"That is a problem," Pam agreed. "What does Ryan think about going with you?"

"We talked about it some, but I can tell he really doesn't want to deal with them just yet. I think he's still adjusting to the whole 'she's-carrying-my-baby' thing."

"He's gonna have to get over that," Jim said. "I think you should probably tell your parents sometime soon. I mean, it's been what, like six months?"

"Five," Kelly corrected. "And yeah, I know. I think I'll talk to Ryan about going sometime in the next few weeks. They've gotta know sometime. At least Ryan and me are kinda back together and stuff. I'm pretty sure we are. After all, the whole awesome surprise thing kinda says it all."

"How are you going to tell your parents? There's no way they'll take this well," Pam asked.

"I have no idea." Kelly said. "What do you think I should do?"

Jim and Pam looked at each other. "Um..."

.

* * *

.

How do you think Kelly should break it to her parents? Let me know, because even I'm not exactly sure!


End file.
